I'm Coming Home
by katdvs
Summary: "I'm coming home." She'd said it to him the night before in the video chat. Since then he replayed that moment over and over, what did it mean, what did she want?


"I'm coming home." She'd said it to him the night before in the video chat. Since then he replayed that moment over and over, what did it mean, what did she want?

Archie pushed back from his desk, looking around the trailer that was the office of Andrews and Son. He looked out the window at the home development they were working on. His crew building houses for the new Blossom Falls community on the old Thornhill property.

Why was she coming back?

She'd left the day after they graduated high school. Sure they had kept in touch, he couldn't imagine his life without her. But she didn't come back when he was going to get married. She didn't come back when he got left at the alter.

Why now?

Her parents hadn't been in town for years, Riverdale forgotten now that they no longer needed a safe haven, a small town to hide away from the press.

What could she want? What would bring her back now?

They were still a few years away from their ten-year reunion.

Archie sat down in his desk chair, trying to focus on the paperwork in front of him.

But he kept thinking of her, the way it had felt when they kissed, when they had sex, how it felt when she threw his letter jacket at him, the tears streaming down her face.

He'd hurt her that night in the rain, broke her heart, broke his because of his stupidity.

He dropped his head into his hands, running his fingers in his red hair, that had grown a bit browner as he aged. He would take that over going gray, at least for now.

She didn't mean Riverdale.

How could she? This wasn't her home, New York was her home.

She must've meant the country.

" _You're my home Archikins."_

A chill shot through his body as he remembered a moment, during the summer before their senior year. They were down by the river, he was strumming his guitar, the sun shining, Veronica was dipping her toes in the water, giggling.

The first time they had been alone in weeks. Betty had always been with him since her break-up with Jughead, but this one day she had to babysit for Polly.

He was finally alone with his girlfriend. He could finally kiss her without feeling guilty. He could finally gaze into her dark, soulful eyes, and feel that zap he only ever felt around her.

She'd told him then that _he_ was her home.

He rubbed his eyes, trying to ignore the chill he felt at the memory. He hadn't thought about it in years.

He heard chatter outside, realizing that the crew was done for the day. Where had all the hours gone? Had he done anything besides be haunted by Veronica, a woman he would probably never see, never touch, never get to beg for forgiveness again?

He stopped at Pop's to pick up dinner, ready to turn on a game or bad reality TV and just forget for the rest of the night.

When he got to the house, the one he'd lived in all his life he couldn't help but feel like the air was thicker. His Dad was out of town, fishing, or something, Archie honestly didn't know. But it surprised him when he heard someone in the living room.

He heard the TV turn on to some cable news show where the talking heads were arguing with each other over something and he knew that his secret wish hadn't come true. "Hey Jughead" he called out as he came in to find his best friend lounging on the couch.

"Hey Arch, I found a package on the front porch for you. I put it up in your room." Jughead took the takeout bag from his friend without talking, immediately taking out a burger and unwrapping it, letting the scent of the burger waft around him before taking a satisfied bite.

"Thanks Jug." Archie shrugged, had he ordered something? Maybe his mother had sent him something from Chicago, she still did every so often in an attempt to convince him to move or visit more often.

He took the stairs two at a time, not sure why he felt a sudden rush of anticipation as he went up to his room. He opened the door, his heart sinking to his feet when he saw the cardboard box on his bed. He opened it, inside hidden in a mess of packing peanuts was a picture of him and Veronica, senior year, the night of the Homecoming Dance.

He checked the box again, no return address as he dumped it out looking for something, anything.

"I didn't send a note." Her voice was syrupy thick as she stood in the doorway behind him. "I was starting to think you had a hot date and wouldn't be home."

He could feel his pulse at every point of his body as he slowly turned towards the voice. "Veronica, what are you, why are you?"

She smiled shyly in a way she only ever did around him. "I told you last night that I was coming home."

His eyes traced over her, as he reached out to touch her, his fingers caressing her cheek. "You're real, you're here, in Riverdale."

"Archikins, where else would I be?"

"New York, LA, Chicago, Paris, London, dozens of places."

She casually draped her arms over his shoulders, her fingers playing with the hair at the nape of his neck, "Archie Andrews, I came home."

"Riverdale is home?" he was sure his heart was going to explode from her touch, this had to be a dream this couldn't be real.

"You are my home, I had to go away for a while, but all these years, all this time I knew, I had to come back to you."

He took her face in his palms kissing her, "I'm so sorry you felt you had to leave."

She was breathless from the kiss, any worry she'd had of being wrong was gone, this had been the right move. "I needed to spend this time away from you, and you needed me to not be here. But I can't stay away anymore. I don't want to stay away anymore."

"I don't want you to stay away either." He smoothed her dark hair with his fingers, "You're here, you're really here."

She nodded, trying to ignore the tears in her eyes, the happy kind for the first time in years when she felt his lips on hers again.

Yes she was home, a place that only existed in these moments, where in Archie's arms, a place she hadn't even come close to finding anywhere else and she understood why.


End file.
